The Katherine Drake Hart Award
Community award presented by the AHCA recognizing a deserving citizen of Travis County who made the most impact on our history from a singular achievement or their collective work over time.
Pennington honored with Katherine Drake Hart Award
Gloria Mata Pennington, a community leader and preservationist, has been awarded the 2020 Recipient of the Katharine Drake Hart History Preservation Award. The announcement and award presentation were made today at the AHCA's 2021 Annual Meeting.
Pennington was a long-time employee of the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, authoring A Living Legacy: Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Present and Creating Our Future: Austin Parks and Recreation Department 1928-2003. In addition, she has been instrumental in recognizing and preserving the history of the Hispanic Community in Austin.
AHCA President Lee Cooke, who presided over the Annual Meeting, said Pennington was selected to receive the award over other nominees "because she so perfectly expresses the goals of the Austin History Center Association to promote the telling of the story of Austin’s history.”
The award is named for the late Katherine Drake Hart. She was a graduate of Wellesley College and Columbia University, and earned her doctorate from the University of Texas in French Literature. She was the first curator of the Austin-Travis County Collection from 1954-1975.
The Katherine Drake Hart Award is generously underwritten by Joe Bryson, HABITEK International, Inc., and John and Candace Volz.
Gloria Mata Pennington accepts the award from former AHCA President Lee Cooke and former chair of the Katherine Drake Hart Award Committee, Charles Peveto.
Previous Recipients
1991 - SUE MCBEE
1992 - EMMETT SHELTON & DOROTHY DEPWE
1993 - AUDRAY BATEMAN RANDLE
1994 - DRURY BLAKE ALEXANDER
1996 - DEALEY HERNDON
1997 - WAYNE BELL
1998 - MATT KREISLE
1999 - MARIAN B. DAVIS
2000 - MARY JO COOPER
2001 - BINNIE & DAVID HOFFMAN
2002 - BETTY BAKER
2003 - KAREN KOCHER
2004 - BIRUTA CELMIN KEARL
2005 - DR. DAVID B. GRACY
2006 - ED VAN de VORT
2007 - MICHAEL BARNES
2019 - Dr. MAGGIE RIVAS-RODRIGUEZ
Learn more about "Pop the Whip," the sculpture given each year to the winner of the Katherine Drake Hart Award. "Pop the Whip" was designed and sculpted by the late Bob Coffee, a founding member of the AHCA.